The 3 men move fast. Dressed in dark clothing and wearing hoods, they are targeting Central Massachusetts convenience stores, stealing packs of cigarettes.
"It's crazy that this happened, honestly. Pretty weird, " Jacob Tinker of Country Cupboard in Bolton, Mass. said. "There was, like, 3 guys all in black and I guess they came in and stole 500 dollars worth of cigarettes."
The small store was hit early Thursday morning. The thieves smashed a glass door and ran in with duffle bags.
"Out of everything they took, there is liquor - all that liquor over there - all they wanted was the cigarettes," Tinker said. "I am glad it was a break-in and not a hold-up; glad no one was involved except the door. That was the only thing that got hurt."
The same morning, Apple Country Market in nearby Hudson was also hit.
"When the officer showed up here they said in 4 years this was the first commercial break in, so to hear that I was extremely surprised," Apple Country employee Vinod Patel said.
In this break-in, the 3 men also stole cigarettes.
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"Not very happy because I'm a hard-working guy, and I expect nothing for nothing, and I hope they catch them," said Patel.
In a surveillance video, the 3 enter Apple Country Market with duffle bags and immediately start taking cigarettes.
Days before, the E-Z Mart in Marlborough was also targeted.
"That's the rock they threw," John Gagas, who owns the E-Z Mart building, said. "They took Marlboro cigarettes; they cleaned them all out. Maybe they smoke Marlboro and they want to re-sell them."
Gagas and others say they have heard of other stores that were hit in similar smash-and-grabs.
"I was surprised because it has never happened like this. We never had a problem in this neighborhood," Gagas said.
